There is a star-studded vocal cast for this film, including Charlize Theron, Nathan Lane, Bill Nighy and Samuel L Jackson: it's a feature-length version of the classic Japanese manga comic-book character, whose doe-eyed expression became an anime template. ­Freddie Highmore voices Toby, the science-loving kid and son of government scientist Dr Tenma (Nicolas Cage); when Toby is killed in an ­accident, Dr Tenma tries to reinstall his DNA and ­microsurgically reclaimed memories into a robot version of his ­beloved son, now called Astro Boy, who becomes involved in a sinister political plot to exploit a new non-destructive ­energy source. It is a bold and even poignant idea and the movie ­certainly zips along. It's not in the Wall-E league, but it's well made and ­inventive.